How to improve employee management (2024 edition)
What is employee management?
Employee management is about overseeing the processes that support a company’s workforce. It may encompass:
recruiting
hiring
training
communication.
In this guide, we’ll explain those processes in more detail.
Why is employee management important?
Good employee management positively impacts staff turnover and retention rates. Since 2 of the 4 most common reasons Australian workers leave a job are poor leadership and a lack of career progression, it’s easy to see why employee management is so important.
The key components of employee management
Recruiting
Filling open positions with the perfect internal or external candidate is a crucial part of employee management. It’s much easier to set employees up for success — and to build a strong work culture — when you have the right people in the right roles. Writing detailed job descriptions, sourcing qualified applicants and running background checks can help ensure new hires are an ideal fit for the company.
Onboarding
A good onboarding experience can help engage and support employees immediately and set the tone for their tenure with your company. One way to do this is to offer self-onboarding functionality that lets new hires submit their own documentation and personal information. Ideally, your onboarding journey should help new employees learn more about their role, your expectations and the company culture.
Training
Depending on the new hire’s role, you might need multiple people to help with training. Come up with a solid training plan before you bring someone on board. Pairing new employees with a “buddy” can also help foster connections, while also getting new recruits off to the best possible start.
Performance management
Goal-setting
Giving employees opportunities to up-skill can enhance their job satisfaction and boost their performance. Managers can ask employees about their goals, then work with them to determine what tools and resources they need to achieve them.
Recognition
Employees have higher job satisfaction when they feel recognised and valued at work. Management should make an ongoing effort to recognise an employee’s efforts and achievements. This can range from a simple thank you, to a more public digital shoutout, bonuses or career advancement opportunities.
Progressive discipline
The flip side of recognition is knowing when and how to deal with employees who aren’t meeting expectations. Employers should have a progressive discipline process — or escalating steps of disciplinary action – to advise employees of what they need to do and when to meet expectations.
Open communication
Creating open-door policies at the management level encourages honest feedback and helps employees feel more engaged with the business and valued at work. Managers also need to share important business information with employees, so need effective communication channels or regular get-togethers in place.
What is an employee management system?
An employee management system is software that simplifies employee management by streamlining and optimising many essential workforce management tasks. An employee management system may include capabilities in the following areas:
Information management: personal information, onboarding, leave management
Time management: time tracking, rostering, attendance
Performance management: goal setting, performance reviews, training and development
Communication and collaboration: internal messaging, document sharing
Reporting and analytics: data insights.
An employee management system provides a centralised platform to handle administrative tasks and workforce management processes.
Benefits of an employee management system
Improve communication
Employee management systems facilitate improved communication throughout the entire team by:
using workflow automation to ensure data accuracy and increase efficiency
enabling staff to access their own information and entitlements via a self-service portal
creating opportunities for staff to communicate online via the system
Boost productivity
An employee management system can help increase a company’s efficiency as a company’s employee management tools are integrated, enabling workflow automation. This frees up individual employees to achieve more in their day, helping to lift productivity for the company as as whole.
Secure data
Any employee management system will need to meet the highest information security standards as employee data is highly confidential. With modern, cloud-based software, top of the range security measures are included in the subscription fee. This is particularly important in the era of remote work, where authorised users need to be able to access data from anywhere, anytime.
Increase accountability
Employee management systems enable greater transparency, making it easier for employees to understand how their performance is measuring up. And with greater accountability and awareness that their work matters, your employees may become more engaged and invested in your business’ success.
How to get the most out of your employee management system
Use software features
Software for employee management comes with many great features. Make sure you’re using the right platform for your needs, so you’re not paying for features and functionality that you do not use.
Set clear goals
You can’t expect your employees to meet specific goals if they don’t know what your company goals are. Define and document goals, as well as any short-term milestones. Then you can use your employee management system to track performance against these goals.
Review performance
Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for each team member. Use the employee management software to track performance so managers and employees can have open conversations.
Regular feedback is always important, but it’s particularly important in the first 3 months of an employee’s tenure with your company.
Foster learning
Strong development and learning opportunities matter greatly to employees, so find ways to offer both internal learning (including mentoring) and external learning. You can also use employee learning retention strategies to help your team remember the training your company provides.
Employee management with MYOB
MYOB is a business management platform that brings together the 6 core workflows that you need to run your business: employees, customers, suppliers, projects, finance, accounting and tax.
Cloud-based, you can build out the employee management system that’s right for your business, adding on new modules and functionality as required - from payroll only to comprehensive workforce management capabilities.
With MYOB, you only pay for what you need, but the software capabilities are there for all your core workflows, so you can grow and scale your business with confidence and unleash your full potential.
At MYOB, we have you covered. Speak to an expert today!
Disclaimer: Information provided in this article is of a general nature and does not consider your personal situation. It does not constitute legal, financial, or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as a statement of law, policy or advice. You should consider whether this information is appropriate to your needs and, if necessary, seek independent advice. This information is only accurate at the time of publication. Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained on this webpage, MYOB disclaims, to the extent permitted by law, all liability for the information contained on this webpage or any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.